Stuck on what to buy with a stricted limit.

[sanatic1234]

Just been on eBay plant searching and don't know what to buy I'm only allowing myself 20 pounds this time, due to Xmas being not far away and i have my partners present to buy yet
I want either eye catching foliage or nice bright eye catching flowers. Any help please?

[redsquirrel]

how about begonias?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Begonia-Rex-Nearl ... 43a3220117

[Mick C]

Good shout squirrel, or whatever noise squirrels make.

Do you like day lilies san, hemerocallis?

[sanatic1234]

What height do begonia's reach red?

And yes mick i like day lilies, would love some intense red ones as that colour is more tropical.

[redsquirrel]

they vary san but taller varieties need shelter from the wind as they snap off easily. the one in the pic looks like a groundcover/bedding plant. i dont know much about begonias except you can strike cuttings easy and there are some wicked leaf forms available

[Mick C]

I have a few begonias San, these only get about 9 - 12 inches high. They are good for both foliage and flowers, some more one than the other.

A few cheap tough and easy plants that I would not be without now are brunnera, impatiens omeiana and arum italicum, but you i'm guessing you could only buy the arum at the moment, and anyway you should be able to get them for nothing from here. That didn't help much did it?

[sanatic1234]

Any suggestions help mick as I'm really stuck on what to get, i have a space of about may be 6-7ft that i want filling, OK i won't do that on 20 pounds but i can start something with foliage like a alocasia or something would be good, These gunerra's how fast do they grow and are they easy to keep to a nice height as i have read that these grow gigantic! I also like the look of these etlinera elatior, although i did try growing this from seed last year and had no luck at all.

[sanatic1234]

Has anybody grown a Crinum angustum these look lovely they have the eye catching foilage i want and the bright eye catching flower.

[Mo]

Thinking about the gunneras San, there is one called Gunnera 'tinctoria' which doesn't grow as large as manicata, (still big though) and the foliage is really nice. Manicata can grow HUGE. Google it and take a look. I know they're grown mainly for the foliage, but the flower heads are very impressive also. ( just googled it and it says i metre high x 1.5 mtrs spread).

[Nigel Fear]

A T REX, if you don't already have one?

[sanatic1234]

Thanks for that Mo i shall do some research on that mate. Nice one


Nigel. I have 2 T-Rex's mate else that would of been on my list straight away.

[Nigel Fear]

Thanks for that Mo i shall do some research on that mate. Nice one


Nigel. I have 2 T-Rex's mate else that would of been on my list straight away.

You probably don't need to buy a 3rd one then.

Is it height you need or ground cover, also, do you want evergreen for year round cover?

[sanatic1234]

Height and spread really mate, if i get a good height i could always do some under planting. Which could be quite effective really. evergreen Hmmm that would be a bonus i suppose a bit like my fatsia that is looking very good still im glad i brought that now.

[JoelR]

How about Cautleya Spicata. I got one from Crug Farm Plants that would easily fill a 6 or 7 ft area. Nice foliage for underplanting something taller. Some hardy begonias such as Evansii worth growing.

[Gareth Davies]

My advice would be to buy £20 worth of seeds from Chilterns and you will end up with enough plants to sell or trade. Just a thought.

Gareth.